With traditional side curtain airbags, the problem exists that the airbag is located in the vehicle above the top sections of the vehicle pillar interior trim or cladding. As the fixing point of a vehicle pillar cladding element is generally not positioned immediately on its top section, there is generally a hollow space behind it. During inflation of the curtain airbag, the airbag may catch on the top edge of a vehicle pillar cladding element and unfold in the hollow space behind the cladding. This may lead to the curtain airbag not being completely positioned in front of the side window of the vehicle and adjacent to the vehicle occupant.
The curtain airbag known from DE 103 31 133 A1 solves the aforementioned problem by providing a guide chamber in the form of an inflatable bubble in the upper section of the curtain airbag. When the curtain airbag is mounted in position, this bubble is inflated between the protection area of the airbag and the inner structure of the vehicle. The bubble is arranged on the airbag in such a way that it is positioned in the area of a vehicle pillar and moves into the specified hollow space during the inflation and unfolding process. The hollow space is thereby blocked from the protection area of the curtain airbag and is guided past the upper section of the vehicle pillar which constitutes the obstacle. The curtain airbag is fixed on a variety of mounting links which extend over the top edge of the airbag on the roof frame of the vehicle. As the top edge of the curtain airbag points upwards when mounted and the mounting links project upwards, the inflatable bubble which also points upwards must be folded such that during inflation the bubble repositions downward. If necessary, a seam may also be used to assist in repositioning the bubble during filling. This results in the disadvantage that the filling of the inflatable guide chamber is guided via the fold line, which means that early inflation of the bubble is difficult to accomplish.
Accordingly, there is a need for a side curtain airbag of the above described general type, which exhibits better filling of the guide chamber, as well as enabling simpler assembly of the protective chamber of the curtain airbag with the guide chamber.